重视语篇结构分析，精准破解主旨大意

昝亚娟

《普通高中英语课程标准（2017年版2020年修订）》指出，英语阅读理解主要考查学生理解书面语篇的能力，其中包括对语篇内容、语篇结构的理解和把握，也包括对语篇内容的分析、阐释和评价。因此，深入研读语篇，把握主题意义、挖掘文化价值、分析文体特征和语言特点及其与主题意义的关联，是同学们培养英语学科核心素养的重要前提。在高考阅读理解中，主旨大意题是考生容易失分的一个题型，也是考生之间容易拉开档次的一个题型，对此，本文拟探讨从语篇结构分析入手，精准把握文章的主旨大意。

在首段找主题句

众所周知，每篇英语文章都围绕一个主题展开写作，把握文章主旨大意的有效方法就是找到主题句。主题句通常是一个语言简洁、具有高度概括性的句子，起着统领全文的作用。文中陈述的事实、描述的细节都为主题句提供支撑。主题句通常出现在文章的首段。因此，我们要特别注意文章的首段。

（一）第一段的首句是主题句

【例】（2020·全国Ⅱ卷，阅读理解D篇）

I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was always an enthusiastic reader， sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties， I lived out adventures through the books I checked out from the library.

...

35. Which can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Reading： A Source of Knowledge

B. My Idea about Writing

C. Library： A Haven for the Young

D. My Love of the Library

解题思路：这是一篇记叙文，作者分享了自己的人生经历。通读全文，我们发现文章的第一句话“I have a special place in my heart for libraries.”是全文的主题句，揭示了文章的主题和大意。在各个段落中，我们都能找到关键词“library”。也就是说，短文的六个段落分别讲述了图书馆在作者人生的不同阶段对她产生的积极影响，说明了图书馆与她的人生有着密不可分的关系。本文的思维导图如下。

通过语篇分析可知，本文讲述了图书馆对作者的人生产生的积极的影响，分享作者对图书馆的喜爱之情。因此，文章的最佳标题是D项。

研究本文的结构可知，第一段的首句就像是一个“龙头”，而每个段落合起来就组成了“龙身”。“龙身”的各个部分的主题应与“龙头”所指的方向一致，“龙身”与“龙头”密切配合，才使舞龙表演顺利进行。

（二）从第一段中提炼文章主题

有些文章的第一段没有主题句，但是提供了丰富的信息。我们可根据第一段内容，对重要的信息进行提炼。

【例】（2021·新高考II卷，阅读理解C篇）

A British woman who won a S1 million prize after she was named the World’s Best Teacher will use the cash to bring inspirational figures into UK schools.

Andria Zafirakou， a north London secondary school teacher， said she wanted to bring about a classroom revolution （變革）. “We are going to make a change， ” she said. “I’ve started a project to promote the teaching of the arts in our schools.”

...

31.Which of the following is a suitable title for the text？

A. Bring Artists to Schools

B. When Historians Meet Artists

C. Arts Education in Britain

D. The World’s Best Arts Teacher

解题思路：本文的体裁属于新闻报道（news report），文章记述了英国一位老师在获奖后，决定使用她的奖金改革学校的艺术教学。第一段相当于全文摘要（summary），高度地概括了全文的主旨大意;第二段提供了一些重要的细节信息。由此可知，文章的主旨大意就是“A British woman started a project to promote the teaching of the arts in UK schools”，这与选项A陈述的意思相符，故最佳答案为A。

一般来说，新闻报道类文章多采用倒金字塔（the Inverted Pyramid）模式来组织材料，文章呈现的信息按重要性降序排列，这就使读者能够快速阅读最关键的信息，然后决定是否继续阅读这篇文章。

Inverted Pyramid Style

（三）第一段的最后一句是主题句

【例】（2020·全国Ⅱ卷，阅读理解B篇）

Some parents will buy any high-tech toy if they think it will help their child， but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.

Psychologist Susan Levine， an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago， found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition（认知）after controlling for differences in parents’ income， education and the amount of parent talk， Levine said.

...

27. What is the text mainly about？

A. A mathematical method. B. A scientific study.

C. A woman psychologist.   D. A teaching program.

解題思路：本文采用新闻报道体裁。第一段是全文的摘要，概括了文章主旨大意;第二段提供重要的细节信息，包括who、what和why等。由第一段中的“but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills”可知，文章是向读者介绍了一项科学研究的结果——拼图游戏能帮助孩子掌握数学相关技能，故最佳答案为B。

在结尾段找主题句

【例】（2021·天津卷，阅读理解D篇）

Art is everywhere. Any public space has been carefully designed by an artistic mind to be both functional and beautiful. Why， then， is art still so widely considered to be “the easy subject” at school， insignificant to wider society， a waste of time and effort？

Art can connect culture with commercial products in a way that not many other things can; art generates money and holds significant emotional and cultural value within communities...

Furthermore， the arts can bring communities together， reducing loneliness and making people feel safer...

The arts clearly have a pretty positive impact on physical and psychological health...

Children who are involved with the arts make greater achievements in their education...

Vital to human life， art is celebrated and used by nations across the world for various purposes. Life without art would be boring and dead still， for art is a part of what makes us human.

55. What is the best title for this passage？

A. How Art Cures Our Hearts

B. Art： A Blessing to Humankind

C. How Art Benefits Communities

D. Art： A Bridge Between Cultures

解题思路：本文属于典型的三段式文体（three-paragraph essay）。第一段把读者的注意力引向“Art”这个话题，然后提出问题（Is art still so widely considered to be “the easy subject” at school， insignificant to wider society， a waste of time and effort？）。中间的四段陈述艺术的功能或重要性。最后一段给出结论（art is celebrated and used by nations across the world for various purposes），回答了第一段提出的问题。结合短文内容可知，艺术对人类有重要意义，故最佳标题是B项。

如下图所示，大多数的英语应用文、议论文、说明文和描写文通常为三段式结构。

introduction

body

summary/conclusion

同学们如读到此类文章，可试着从最后一段（即结论段）寻找解题的依据，从而准确把握文章的主题。

在文章的中间段找关键词

有的文章的主题句不在第一段，也不在最后一段，这类文章的主题分散在文章各个段落中，需要我们浏览全文，寻找关键词，据此来确定文章的主题。

【例】（2021·浙江卷，阅读理解B篇）

We live in a town with three beaches. There are two parks less than 10 minutes’ walk from home where neighborhood children gather to play. However， what my children want to do after school is pick up a screen—any screen—and stare at it for hours. They are not alone. Today’s children spend an average of four and a half hours a day looking at screens， split between watching television and using the Internet.

In the past few years， an increasing number of people and organizations have begun coming up with plans to counter this trend. A couple of years ago， film-maker David Bond realised that his children， then aged five and three， were attached to screens to the point where he was able to say “chocolate” into his three-year-old son’s ear without getting a response. He realised that something needed to change， and， being a London media type， appointed himself “marketing director for Nature”. He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to be marketed to young people. The result was Project Wild Thing， a film which charts the birth of the Wild Network， a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.

...

27. What can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Let Children Have Fun

B. Young Children Need More Free Time

C. Market Nature to Children

D. David Bond： A Role Model for Children

解題思路：文章第一段描述了一个社会现象——作者住在有三个海滩的小镇上，步行几分钟就能到达两个公园，邻居家的孩子们会在那里玩耍。但是，作者的孩子们放学后不是看电视，就是玩手机。现在的孩子们平均每天花四个半小时看屏幕，一半时间看电视，一半时间上网。

作者在第二段陈述了“近年来，越来越多的人开始制定计划来对抗这种趋势”。而后，作者讲述电影制作人David Bond针对孩子们沉迷电视和网络这一问题所做的事情。David Bond是伦敦的一名媒体人，他任命自己为“自然的营销总监”。他拍摄自己的旅程，把自然作为一个品牌，向年轻人进行推销，鼓励孩子们走进大自然。根据第二段中的“...appointed himself ‘marketing director for Nature’”，文章的最佳标题是C项。

根据各段大意提炼主题

有时，受篇幅所限，三段式的文体被命题人删掉了开头（introduction）和结尾（conclusion），只保留正文部分（body）。这样的文章往往开门见山，从不同方面逐段呈现关于某个话题的细节信息，需要我们对信息进行概括和提炼，才能找到主旨大意。

【例】（2020·新高考Ⅱ卷，阅读理解D篇）

Rainforests are home to a rich variety of medicinal plants， food， birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush（灌木丛）in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the whole of Britain！ About 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest.

Rainforests are the lungs of the planet—storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world’s oxygen...

35. What can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Life-Giving Rainforests B. The Law of the Jungle

C. Animals in the Amazon D. Weather in Rainforests

解题思路：通读全文，我们可发现这是一篇说明文，介绍了“rainforests”。短文的四个段落讲述了热带雨林的不同功能。本文的思维导图如下。

据此我们可推断，本文的话题就是“rainforests”。A项“孕育生命的热带雨林”这一表述能够揭示全文的主旨大意，故最佳标题是A项。

由此可见，此类说明文，每段论述一个分论点，就像是一张桌子的几条腿，共同支撑桌面这个“大观念（big idea）”，即全文的主旨大意。

总之，近年的高考英语试题越来越重视在语篇层次设题。整体理解语篇，提炼语篇大意，概括文章的标题，显得尤为重要。认真研读语篇，有助于同学们能多层次、多角度地分析语篇所传递的意义，依据语篇的主题意义、文体风格、语言特点和价值取向，判断文章的主旨大意和作者要传递的信息。同时，同学们可利用作者视角、写作背景和时间等信息来深刻理解语篇，把语言学习与意义探究融为一体，实现深度学习，促进阅读能力的提高。